Strange Bedfellows
by alatariel-gildaen
Summary: "I'm seeing two men who grossly over-indulged last night. One with the hangover from hell. One very clearly still drunk." Katniss and Annie end up on babysitting duties when a birthday celebration becomes a case of one-upmanship. Written for Day 3 of Prompts in Panem's 7 Deadly Sins Challenge - Gluttony.


**A/N - Another oneshot from the _Sabotaged Heart_ AU, written for _Prompts in Panem_'s Seven Deadly Sins Challenge. This is for day three - Gluttony. I love those guys so much and just can't leave them alone. This works entirely as a stand alone, but if you want any extra background on their characters then check out the main story too. I imagine Finnick's birthday to be sometime in early May (not sure why, I just do!) So this is set about 9 months after SH finishes :)**

**Massive kudos go to Court81981 for help with the title and for encouragement!**

* * *

It was Finnick's thirtieth birthday and he had decided he wanted to relive his student days by finding a club that played the cheesiest eighties and nineties rock anthems around, while offering the cheapest pints available.

After getting ready at his cottage, Katniss and Peeta took a taxi in to town to meet Finn and his mates in a pub for pre-clubbing drinks. Finnick had chosen The Spread Eagle; the seediest dive of a pub he could find. Monday was student night and between 7pm and 9pm pints were on offer for just two pounds each. He was already half way through a pint when Peeta and Katniss arrived.

"Bloody hell, Finn, couldn't you have found somewhere better than this dump?" said Peeta as they walked in, and Katniss couldn't help but agree, pulling a disgusted face as with each step her shoes clung to the sticky floor.

"Probably," Finn agreed, "But this place has character."

"You're right there. As far as character goes I'd say this place is a toss- up between Hannibal Lector and The Child-Catcher."

"Shut up and get a drink in you."

"Alright, old man," responded Peeta with a wink.

"Enough of the 'old man' bollocks, I'm still young," said Finnick, finishing the remainder of his pint.

"Yeah, yeah," said Peeta as he walked towards the bar. "What are you having?"

"Aspall's, cheers mate."

Peeta inhaled sharply. "In that case you might want to slow it down. At your age that stuff'll knock you for six."

"I can still drink you under the table, pipsqueak."

"Sure. You talk big but-"

"First one to drop makes breakfast in bed for the other tomorrow."

Katniss stepped in, sensing that the male bravado and stupidity could otherwise get out of hand. "You two are not seriously thinking of having some kind of drinking contest?"

"No," Peeta replied, while at the same time Finnick said, "Nope. I'm gonna drink and Peet's gonna make me breakfast tomorrow. No contest."

Peeta paused for just a moment before answering. "You're on. It'll be nice to have you cook for me for once."

Katniss shook her head. "Just be warned that neither me nor Annie are following you to hospital when you have to have your stomachs pumped, ok?"

"Ahhh, lighten up, Katniss. It's a celebration. Look, Peet, I'll go easy on you. I'm already a pint ahead and I'm not even going to insist you catch up. I'll still win."

"No, I'll catch up. It's only fair. I don't want you thinking I only won 'cause I had less."

Katniss watched as Peeta went to the bar, ordering a round for everyone and shaking her head in mock despair when he returned with two pints for himself. "May the best man win," he said raising his glass to Finnick and downing the drink in one.

"Oh don't worry," he replied, a devilish smile across his face. "I intend to."

Annie sidled up next to Katniss and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. "I hope you're ready to have your night ruined. This can only end messily."

After two pints each, Finnick insisted everyone did a round of tequila shots. He lined up eleven at the bar, one for everyone who had come along. Two of his work mates refused them as they were both driving. "Well, you know what that means, Peet?" he said, handing one of the spares to Peeta while he poured a little salt on the back of his hand.

"Fine," he replied, taking the shot, salt and a wedge of lemon from his friend. "But no more tequila after this. It tastes like the devil's arsehole."

"Is that something you're an expert on?" he smirked. "Ready? Three, two, one…" The pair of them necked their shots, both men shuddering slightly as the alcohol ran rampant through their veins. Shaking away the ice cold sensation, Finnick looked at his watch and said, "Right. Well I think we'll have one more in here, then move elsewhere before we got to The Hob. "

"The Hob?" Katniss asked.

"The club we're going to," Peeta replied, his words already starting to slur a little. "You think it's a dive in here, you just wait til you see that place."

"It'll be great," interjected Finnick. "Just like being a teenager again."

"You mean we'll be _surrounded_ by teenagers. I guarantee we'll be the oldest ones in there. "

"Oh, shut it, you grumpy sod," chuckled Finnick, throwing his arm across Peeta's shoulders and wobbling unsteadily as he did so. "Take me to the bar."

Katniss watched as the pair of them raucously walked back to the bar, holding each other up, before Finnick caught the attention of the barman. Annie wandered over to Katniss, keeping an eye on the two men as she spoke. "Are you ready for this?"

"I don't know that I am, to be honest."

"It's been quite a while. I mean, the four of us all used to go out quite a lot before…." her voice drifted off for a moment and Katniss noticed her face darken slightly as the memories came back to her. "Before Peeta's accident." Katniss knew she had been about to mention Peeta's ex-fiancée, who had abandoned him after his amputation. It didn't bother her hearing about his past before they met. Instead she hated the fact that someone had hurt him so deeply. "And then after he couldn't drink without getting depressed. At least now he's back to being a happy drunk. Whatever happens, it'll be amusing at least."

A few minutes later Peeta returned to her, a fresh pint in hand. He grinned as he lifted the ice cold drink to his lips, taking a large swig and placing a rather wet and sloppy kiss on her cheek. "Love you," he said, placing his glass heavily on a nearby table, spilling a little over the edge as he did so before turning to look at her. Katniss could help but smile as his eyes roamed appreciatively over her body. "God, your tits look good in that top."

"Thanks," she replied, chuckling at his earthy nature. "And your arse looks pretty fine in those jeans."

"Bet you can't wait to get me home and get me out of them."

Raising an eyebrow at his insinuation, she smiled and said, "Damn straight. So you better make sure you're still capable by the time we get home."

"I will be!" he protested. "I can handle it!" He reached for his pint, accidentally knocking it and spilling a little more in the process. "Ooops. Don't tell Finn."

And so their night progressed, with Peeta and Finnick becoming louder and losing motor skills with each passing moment. After leaving The Spread Eagle they found themselves in a Wetherspoons, where Katniss was able to persuade Peeta and Finnick to counteract some of their stupidity by ordering a bowl of chips and onion rings each. Her plan worked and they seemed to sober up briefly before they realised that cocktails were on offer. The jug of margarita they shared lasted a depressingly short amount of time, and once finished the two men were back to annoying all the other pub goers with their overtly loud telling of lewd jokes and raucous laughter.

They left Wetherspoons to head to The Hob, stopping off in one final pub for another round of shots. As requested by Peeta, and much to Finnick's chagrin, they decided to forgo the tequila in favour of two lots of double Sambuca, after which they were both utterly legless.

"Do you think we should get them home?" Katniss asked Annie, watching as the two of them stumbled outside in to the cool night air, leading the group towards their final destination.

"You suggest it and see what happens," she replied. "Anyway, I've seen them worse than this. Not for a long time, admittedly, but still…"

"I can't believe how sober I feel."

"Yup. That tends to happen when you have to look after someone."

"Where's my woman?" Finnick called out, causing Annie to roll her eyes with a patient smile.

"I'm here, baby."

He lurched over towards her, placed an arm around her waist and said in a deliberate voice. "You gotta look sober else they won' lets in."

"Ok, baby, I'll do my best."

"Knew y'would."

Katniss noticed Peeta wobbling dangerously without Finnick there to lean up against and made her way over to him. When she came in to his view his face lit up like a child's on Christmas morning. "Katniss!" he beamed at her. "I missed you!"

"I've been here the whole time," she chuckled.

"Yeah, but I still missed you."

"You having fun?"

He nodded vigorously, the sudden movement almost over balancing him. Throwing his arms out to her, she grabbed hold of him to keep him upright. "Love you," he grinned with eyes half closed.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. This much." He stretched his arms out to either side as wide as they would go.

She melted at his drunken honesty. "Really? Well, I love you too."

"How much?"

"Can you remember how much you love me?"

A look of concentration passed over his face for a moment before he stretched his arms out wide again.

"Well, I love you that much times two."

He fell in to her arms, and Katniss trembled a little under his weight as he pulled her in to him.

"Lessgo!" Finnick's loud voice broke through their reverie. "I wanna drink and I wanna dance!"

It turned out that by the time they got in to The Hob, neither of them were particularly capable of dancing. Once inside the pair of them headed straight towards the nearest bar and Katniss soon lost count of how much they consumed. "Honestly," said Annie, as Katniss watched them with deep concern in her eyes, "From experience it's best to leave them to it. We'll try and have a good night, and by the end of it they'll still be there, propping up the bar. I guarantee it."

She was not wrong. After dancing the night away reliving their youths (and trying to ignore the fact that, as Peeta predicted, they did appear to be the oldest people in the club) at about one in the morning, Annie and Katniss returned to find Peeta and Finnick holding each other upright laughing their heads off at nothing in particular.

"How much have you had?" asked Annie.

"No'enough," Finnick grinned at her. "We gonna go 'n' 'ave some more at Peet's."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah," agreed Peeta. "Lessget a taxi 'n' keep drinkin'"

Embarrassingly enough, after hailing a cab the girls had to promise their taxi driver that neither of the boys would be sick en route. Annie sat up front, while Katniss braved it by sitting in the middle seat between the two men, who kept bursting in to laughter at some unknown joke before holding their fingers to their lips and shushing each other.

When they finally arrived back at Peeta's cottage, Finnick opened his door and immediately fell to the ground, laughing as he crawled to prop himself up against a nearby elm tree. Peeta howled with laughter at him as he tried to help Finnick to his feet, but ended up on the ground next to him. Annie and Katniss settled up with the taxi driver and gave him a very generous tip for putting up with their behaviour.

It took a while to get the pair of them stood up again. It was a delicate balancing act as Katniss fumbled with the front door keys, struggling to keep the giggling Peeta upright while Annie did the same with Finnick. When she finally managed to get the front door open Peeta practically fell inside, stumbling slightly on the welcome mat. "M'still here!" he slurred out, holding his hands up in celebration and laughing at his own clumsiness.

"I'll get the kettle on, I think," said Annie as she led a completely unprotesting and manically grinning Finnick indoors.

"I think that's probably a very good idea," Katniss agreed. She led Peeta through to his sitting room and deposited him on the couch, while Annie took Finnick through to the kitchen.

"Come'ere," Peeta slurred, his arms outstretched towards her.

She sat down beside him and he immediately leant in towards her, resting his palm on the top of her thighs. "Annie's making tea," she said, slowly and deliberately. "You want one?"

In response he shook his head. "Wannanother beer."

"I think you've had enough alcohol, to be honest."

He slowly nodded, his eyes drifting shut. " 'kay," he said, moving his hand back and forward over her thigh. A lopsided grin covered his face as he said, "You're really sexy."

"Thank you," she responded, aware of where the conversation was headed and amused that he probably thought he was still capable of performing.

He leant in towards her and placed a very wet kiss on the side of her neck, and ran his fingers along the curve of her waist. "I like this bit here," he said, trying to focus his eyes on what his hands were doing.

"Do you, now?"

"Mmmm-hmmm." He stroked her waist for a few seconds longer. "Mm horny."

"Are you?"

He nodded lazily. "Katniss?" he asked, quietly, barely able to form the syllables of her name.

"Yes?"

"Will you give my dick a little kiss?"

"Now?" she chuckled incredulously. "You know Finn and Annie are just next door, right?"

"They won't know," he said quietly, leaning in to her further and placing several slow, languid kisses on her neck. After a moment he stilled and his breathing deepened. Katniss tried to gently rouse him. No response. He'd asked for sex and fallen asleep within seconds. Shaking her head in disbelief she disentangled herself from his heavy embrace and made her way through to the kitchen. She was met with the sound of gentle snoring and the sight of Finnick slumped forward over the kitchen table.

"Yours too?" Katniss asked as she walked in.

"Yup. I don't know how I'll get him upstairs. He's pretty much a deadweight at the moment. Did you want a tea or coffee?"

"Ooh, not for me, thank you."

Annie turned the kettle off and said, "Me neither. They'll probably regret falling asleep before they could drink something non-alcoholic in the morning." She looked over at Finnick as he gave a particularly rasping snore and shuddered slightly. "Ugh. He only snores when he's drunk and I can't stand the sound of it."

"Peeta too."

A slight smile crossed Annie's face. "They've done this to themselves. Why should we suffer because of it? Do you think you can help me move him?"

"I'll do my best," Katniss replied.

"Brilliant. If we can get him next door, I think Finn and Peet are welcome to each other tonight, what do you say?"

A wicked smile crossed Katniss' face as she said, "Absolutely."

Annie knelt down next to Finn and shook his shoulder. "Finn? Baby? Bed. Come on." Finnick's eyes opened blearily for a moment before falling shut straight away. Undeterred, Annie tried once again. "Finn?" she repeated, louder this time, and shaking him more vigorously. "Bed."

He nodded slightly and put his arm out to Annie, who helped him to his feet. Katniss placed his other arm around her shoulders and together they managed to manoeuvre him into the living room, dropping him unceremoniously on the sofa next to Peeta. Immediately Peeta rested his head against Finn's chest as Finn threw an arm around Peeta's shoulders. Within seconds he was snoring gently again.

"Such a beautiful bromance," said Annie, before the two of them burst into raucous laughter.

A slight frown creased Peeta's brow, and the mumbled words, "Be quiet," were just about audible as he snuggled down even further.

They had to bite their fists to stop themselves from laughing even harder. "Oh, god, where's my camera," Katniss whispered. "This has to be documented."

Katniss snapped a few photos, still shaking uncontrollably with laughter. "They're going to be _awful_ in the morning," she said, wiping the corners of eyes on the back of her hand.

"Serve them right for that ridiculous competition," Annie replied, stifling a yawn, which Katniss couldn't help but copy.

"Who's going to claim to be the winner, do you think?"

"Oh, I think it's pretty safe to assume they both will. Personally, I think they owe _us _breakfast in bed. In fact, I might just insist on it."

"Good idea. Time to call it a night, you think?"

"Definitely," replied Annie. "I think we've both done enough babysitting for one day."

* * *

Katniss awoke the following morning feeling a little confused. She was used to waking up alone at Peeta's, seeing as how he always got up so early, but she usually woke up briefly when he got out of bed, and this morning she had no recollection of him getting up at all.

Then the memories of Peeta and Finnick's drunken antics came flooding back. She lay in bed listening for any sounds that would indicate anyone else was up but all she could hear was the insistent scratching at the door which meant the cats wanted feeding. Forcing herself up and out of bed, she opened the door and bent down to scratch behind the ears of the three cats who wound themselves around her legs, begging for their breakfast.

She went straight in to the kitchen to flick the kettle on and found a note on the table.

_I'm taking Belle for a walk. The cats have been fed so don't let them try and fool you otherwise! And I really hope the boys haven't moved. You need to see them…_

_Annie xx_

Hardly daring to breathe in case she disturbed them, Katniss tiptoed through to the living room on almost silent feet and immediately had to stifle her laughter. They were lying down together on the couch, Finnick spooning Peeta's back, Peeta clinging on to the arm that was slung across his chest. She picked up her camera once again and quickly snapped a few shots. Just in time too, as with a rather pained groan, Peeta began to stir.

She knelt down in front of him and gently stroked his hair until his eyes, bloodshot and still unable to fully focus, slowly fluttered open. "Good morning, daftie. Guess who didn't make it to bed last night?"

"You?"

"Guess again."

"No, it was definitely you."

"I really think you might be wrong, Peeta."

He shook his head, closed his eyes and pulled Finn's arm closer around him. Straight away he realised something was amiss as his eyes opened again. "The fuck…?" he said looking with absolute confusion at the arm around him before looking over his shoulder at Finnick still asleep behind him.

"You two were very, _very_ drunk last night."

"Did I win?"

"I think it's pretty safe to say you both lost."

"I woke up first. I win." A half smile formed on his lips and he lay his head back down on the sofa's arm rest before he groaned piteously.

"What's wrong?"

The smile turned to a worried looking frown. "Wanna puke."

"Well, you won't get any sympathy from me."

Behind him Finnick began to stir. The arm draped over Peeta moved a little lower, giving him a little squeeze around his waist. "Ugh, no," protested Peeta, the colour in his cheeks changing rapidly from slightly flushed pink to greyish-green.

"Upstairs. Bathroom. Now," she ordered him. In response he shook his head fearfully.

His movements made Finnick stir even further. Repeating Peeta's first exclamation of, "The fuck…?" he raised himself up on to his elbow and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his other hand. "Peet, baby, I know you want me, but seducing me when I'm drunk isn't playing fair."

"Fuck off," he moaned, clutching his stomach.

Finnick laughed as he shimmied towards the end of the couch, swinging his legs over the arm rest and climbing unsteadily to his feet. "Did I win?"

"No-one won anything," said Katniss.

"Yeah, I did. I'm in better shape. Where's my breakfast, Peet? Hop to it."

"Not fair. I want a recount."

"A recount? We matched each other, drink for drink. I'll have the works, please mate. Toast, beans, facon, sausages, mushrooms, scrambled tofu, grilled tomatoes, hash browns. Get on it."

At Finnick's words Peeta turned, if possible, even more green and clutched his stomach even harder. "No. Not fair. We had the same by volume, but I had a higher ratio than you."

"How'd you work that one out, pukey?"

"You've got a whole extra leg's worth of blood in you. The concentration of alcohol was higher in me."

"I'll give you ten points for originality for that excuse. So what are you saying? You want a rematch?"

He shook his head in horror. "No. No, I'm never drinking again."

"Don't even joke about such terrible things, buddy. Anyway. Breakfast. In your own time."

With a dazzling smile that was truly unbecoming of someone who had imbibed so freely the night before, Finnick left Katniss and Peeta alone. "Will you stroke my hair again?" he asked her, and she obliged immediately. "That's nice."

"Do you need tea?"

"In a bit."

"Do you want me to do breakfast for everyone?"

"Nah, you're alright," he said, as he closed his eyes and clutched himself even tighter. "I quite like my friends."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I've eaten your cooking, Katniss."

She playfully shoved his shoulder, apologising immediately as protesting whimpers escaped his throat.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," he said. "I'll never say anything bad about that delicious, gritty yet somehow simultaneously gelatinous slop you cooked us on Valentine's Day again." Quelling under the look she flashed him he quickly added, "That was the last time, I promise."

"It had better be," she replied as she resumed running her fingers through his hair, causing his eyes to drift closed once again.

Just as he appeared to be getting comfortable once again, Finnick burst back in to the room with an unacceptable level of energy. "Oi, Mellark, I know I said 'in your own time,' but I still meant today."

"Katniss, tell him he's a shit-stain. How is he even upright?"

The answer was pretty obvious to Katniss in her well rested state. " I'm seeing two men who grossly over-indulged last night. One with the hangover from hell. One very clearly still drunk. Finn, you should be nicer to him. Your hangover will kick in later and he'll be paying you back in kind, don't worry."

Katniss could see the cogs working overtime in Peeta's brain as he tried to process this information. "Are you saying," he began slowly, "that I'm in a more advanced state of recovery than he is?"

The ghost of a smile returned to Katniss' face. "That's pretty much entirely what I'm saying."

"Take me to bed, you beautiful woman," he grinned, wrapping his arms around her and bringing her in for a kiss. "Finnick?" he called out to his best friend. "Loser makes the winner breakfast in bed, that was the deal, right?"

"Right."

"Great," he replied, swinging himself into an upright position and struggling to his feet. "I'll be upstairs, and I'll have the works. In your own time, mate." He stumbled past, Katniss in hand, leaving a rather bemused and disgruntled Finnick in his wake.

* * *

**A/N - Thanks for reading! Hoping to get the sequel to _SH_ up sometime in November. Earlier if all goes according to plan :)**


End file.
